


there's nothing unlucky about this

by TheLamestFad



Series: OtaYuri Week [3]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Career Ending Injuries, Character's Name Spelled as Viktor, Depression, Established Relationship, Katsuki Yuuri and Victor Nikiforov are Yuri Plisetsky's Parents, M/M, Not Beta Read, OtaYuri Week 2017, Rated T for Yuri's Potty Mouth, Teeny tiny mention of suicide, but also for, but it is there, close enough tbh, day three: future/coming of age, like blink and you'll miss it, makkachin will never die, not literally but, otabek is the most supportive bf ever, yuri cries a lot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-24
Updated: 2017-02-24
Packaged: 2018-09-26 15:26:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9908633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLamestFad/pseuds/TheLamestFad
Summary: Yuri is twenty-two when his life metaphorically ends.A freak accident, they call it. Unlucky. Could’ve happened to anyone.Yuri hates the people who try to tell him this. He’s been skating nearly as long as he can remember, and he knows the risks he takes,he took, every time he steps on the ice. It wasn’t unlucky, it wasn’t the wrong place at the wrong time. The ice is unforgiving, and sometimes demands a sacrifice to stay appeased. This time, it chose him.





	

**Author's Note:**

> aah, I'm super late for day three, but life got in the way and then this fic decided to turn itself into a monster  
> I also realized a bit too late that Otabek doesn't seem to have a coach, so uh whoops  
> i guess just pretend it's Viktor but he trusts Yuri to take care of Otabek for him, hahaha  
> anyways, please enjoy this angst-fest :'D

It’s almost like it happens in slow motion. He feels the exact moment his skate hits the ice at an awkward angle, feels it skitter across the slick rink, unable to find purchase to stop his descent. His leg twists, and his heart almost stops. Gravity suddenly feels like it pulling him down, quicker, much quicker, and when he finally hits the ice with the sickeningly loud crack of his knee twisting out of place, the world goes gray and fuzzy.

He stares up at the ceiling, wondering where the color went. In some deep dark part of his brain, he knows he should be panicking, trying to move, get himself up, but the static that’s taken over his conscious mind makes his limbs feels like they’re encased in mud. There’s a tingling numbness in one of his legs that’s worrying but he can’t really place why.

There’s a face looking down at him now, hanging right over him. It’s a familiar face if he cares to think about it, and there are others, also familiar, hovering around the edges of his vision. The one leaning over him is talking, he thinks, but he’s never been good at reading lips, so instead he stares at their eyes. He thinks they look worried, and for a moment, clarity returns just enough for him to recognize the stab of guilt in his chest for what it is.

But then the fog that’s been creeping ever closer into his vision swallows his mind, and he drifts in a comforting blackness.

When he wakes up, they tell him he’ll never skate competitively again.

 

~~~

 

Yuri is twenty-two when his life metaphorically ends.

A freak accident, they call it. Unlucky. Could’ve happened to anyone.

Yuri hates the people who try to tell him this. He’s been skating nearly as long as he can remember, and he knows the risks he takes, _he took_ , every time he steps on the ice. It wasn’t unlucky, it wasn’t the wrong place at the wrong time. The ice is unforgiving, and sometimes demands a sacrifice to stay appeased. This time, it chose him.

Thinking this way takes away some of the sting out of being useless. He was made for the ice from his earliest memories, and though he doesn’t feel done with the ice, the ice is done with him.

The first couple of days after they tell him the news, he is utterly inconsolable. He sends away anyone and everyone trying to see him, well-wishers and friends alike, newspaper reporters and fans. He is in his prime, currently has as many gold medals as Viktor and is slated to win more. Training for this season has only just started. _He_ has only just gotten started.

Except he hasn’t. Not anymore.

( _When he finally allows people into his hospital room, days later, when the sharp knife through his heart has faded to a slightly less agonizing dull ache, the first person inside is Otabek. Yuri has a strange moment of deja vu, and he realizes that Otabek was the one leaning over him at the rink, and the guilt he felt from that day multiples tenfold. Before either of them can say a word, Yuri holds open his arms, and seconds later Otabek is between them, squeezing him back with all the love and affection he can muster, and Yuri can practically see the days worth of worry melt off Otabek’s shoulders the longer they stay embraced._

_“I’m sorry,” he mutters into Otabek’s shirt, feeling the tears of loss and frustration form again in his eyes, as they have so often since he heard the news. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”_

_With each repetition, Otabek squeezes him a little tighter, and when he finally pulls back, it’s only so he can wipe away the fresh tears from Yuri’s salt streaked cheeks._

_“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Otabek finally says, and Yuri nods, even though he knows it’s a lie._ )

The rest of his hospital stay is miserable. Otabek comes when he can, and even when he can’t, but Yuri gets furious if he knows Otabek is skipping practice just to see him. Only one of them can skate now, and even though Otabek was planning to retire after this year, Yuri knows that if he would allow it, Otabek would drop out then and there to spend all his time taking care of Yuri.

Even if the sentiment is sweet, Yuri would never forgive himself or Otabek for allowing the man to leave the ice like that, and he tells Otabek in no uncertain terms that if he doesn’t finish out the season to the absolute best of his ability, Yuri will dump his ass in a second. It’s an empty threat, and they both know it, but it’s threat enough that Otabek knows not to ignore it.

Viktor and Yuuri also stop by when they can, which is surprisingly often. Or not, Yuri guesses, when he remembers that they’re both retired. They spend most of their time at the rink still, but that’s because Yuri himself is usually there, so now that he’s not, they seem to go a lot less often. He knows they still put in appearances, especially since Viktor is planning to take over as head coach next year after Yakov retires, but they’re honestly around more often than they’re not, and even when he finally gets discharged weeks later, they take to visiting him at home instead.

(" _You don’t have to keep coming by like this,” Yuri says acidically to the idiot couple when they walk into his hospital room. It’s been a week since he first allowed people to come see him, and so far they’ve been here every day. “I’m never going to skate again, so it’s not like you have to waste anymore of your time on me.”_

_He’s restless and in pain and honestly kind of wishes he was dead, which is the only excuse he can give for what he says. Yuuri looks stricken, putting a hand to his mouth as though he’s trying to hold in something he might regret saying. Viktor is livid, and strides across the room in three quick paces, grabbing Yuri by the shoulder and shaking him lightly, though Yuri knows if he weren’t sitting in a hospital bed, Viktor wouldn’t be so gentle._

_Viktor takes a deep breath before he speaks._

_“I know you’re hurting, Yuri, both physically and emotionally, and no, neither of us can possible imagine what you’re going through right now. But,” he pauses, looking straight into Yuri’s eyes so he can see the sincerity and determination in them, the love. “We’re not going to leave you. You are very important to us, Yuri, and we’re going to help you through this. We know that you’ll overcome this, and come out stronger on the other side. And we’ll be by you every step of the way, I promise you. So never say anything like that again, okay?”_

_Yuri can do nothing but nod, speechless that he actually means so much to these two people. And maybe, if he’s also crying over something other than his own circumstances for the first time in days, that’s okay. Because Viktor and Yuuri are also crying, and Viktor sits down on the bed and pulls him into a hug, Yuuri moving quietly across the room to join them._

_He’s still not okay with what’s happened to him, but maybe, with these people around him, someday he will be._ )

It still takes him a long time to come to terms with his new disability. Even with all the support he has from his friends, it will hit him at odd times, causing him to become depressed and withdrawn, which is a whole new can of worms in and of itself. He was always quick to anger, but now, he feels like he has a hair trigger on his tears. Physically, he now struggles with things that were never an issue before, especially going up and down stairs, and the first time he tried to do it on his own, he got stranded halfway down and called Otabek, balling his eyes out as he pleaded for him to come get him. He can no longer stretch the way he used to, his movements no longer effortlessly graceful, and the first time he realizes that, he has a breakdown in the middle of the beginner yoga class Yuuri had dragged him to. He knew that his injury had taken the ice from him, but it hadn’t occurred to him yet that it had taken ballet from him too.

He spirals down into a depression after that. He’s useless now, on and off the ice, and he doesn’t understand why everybody doesn’t give up on him, when he’s already given up on himself. He knows that this defeatist way of thinking both frustrates and scares the people who love him, but he’s sunken into a pit of self-loathing that he just can’t pull himself out of. He’s cranky and irritable almost all the time, and the way nobody faults him for it just makes him even more cranky and irritable. He doesn’t want to be pitied; at this point, all he wants is to be left alone so he can wither away into nothingness.

And Otabek, ever-loyal and ever-loving, stays by his side through all of it. Every dark moment and every angry fit, he bears it all with the absolute patience of someone with complete faith that Yuri will get better, that he’ll see the light at the end of the tunnel. What Otabek doesn’t seem to realize though, is that _he_ is Yuri’s light at the end of the tunnel.

Otabek is also eventually the one who brings about Yuri’s saving grace, in the form of suggesting he start going to physical therapy. It had been talked about briefly to him by one of the doctors at the hospital, but at the time he hadn’t been listening to much of anything after the initial prognosis. Otabek gently reminds him of the possibility, and though he is skeptical at first, he agrees to try it out.

( _“You don’t have to stay with me,” Yuri whispers into the quiet room one night when he feels the dark closing in on him, choking him with its insidious thoughts of worthlessness and nothingness._

_He knows Otabek is awake. They’ve been lying together for hours, because lying down is one of the few things that doesn’t cause Yuri pain these days. Otabek, when he’s home, sticks to Yuri like glue, and most of the time Yuri can’t say that he minds. When he finally breaks the silence, he feels Otabek stiffen, then slowly exhale, as though he’s trying to find the patience to deal with this. With Yuri. Yuri feels the thought catch in his throat, and feels a swell of justification rise in his chest._

_“I’m not going to leave you, Yuri,” Otabek says simply, turning to lay on his side so that he’s facing Yuri now. Yuri doesn’t move, still staring up at the dark ceiling of their bedroom._

_“It’s alright,” Yuri hears himself saying. His heart is breaking into a million pieces as he speaks, but he feels like it needs to be said. The thoughts have been chasing themselves around in his head for days now, and it was only a matter of time until he burst. “I know that this isn’t how you pictured it would be when we got together all those years ago. I know how that feels,” he smiles a little, but it’s doesn’t express any happiness what-so-ever. “I’m holding you back. There are so many things that we used to do together that we can’t anymore. I can’t even ride on the back of your motorcycle anymore,” Yuri tries to let out a laugh but it comes out as more of a sob._

_Otabek moves a bit closer, laying his arm lightly on Yuri’s chest and rubbing gently, as though he was petting their cat. The motion makes Yuri relax as much as he tries to feel annoyed at the sudden touch. He doesn’t want to lose this, he thinks. He doesn’t want to_ lose _this, but he knows he will, because everything he loves eventually leaves him; his parents, his grandpa, and more recently, the ice. At least this will be on his own terms; a small comfort that certainly doesn’t help much._

_“Yuri,” Otabek says his name as a way to get his attention, so Yuri finally looks over, making eye contact with the man he loves for the first time since he started this conversation. Otabek’s face is as passive as always, though in the low light Yuri does think his frown is a little more pronounced than it usually is. It’s the pain in his eyes that causes Yuri’s breath to catch in his throat._

_“I’m not going to leave you,” he repeats, his voice firmer and fiercer, and Yuri feels a shudder travel up his spine. “I love you more than anything, and have since I was thirteen years old, even if I didn’t realize it until later. No matter where we are, or what we’re doing, it doesn’t matter to me as long as we’re together. This isn’t the end of the road for us, and it isn’t the end of the road for you, Yuri. I know it seems impossible now, but you’re going to come through this, and you’re going to do it with me by your side. I won’t take no for an answer.”_

_Yuri is crying by the time Otabek finishes, but christ, when isn’t he crying these days? Beka leans forward and kisses the tears off Yuri’s cheeks, pausing as he pulls away to leave a lingering sweet kiss on his lips, settling back down on his pillow to look at Yuri._

_Yuri’s face is flushed, both from his recent bout of emotion and from Otabek’s show of affection, and he finds himself rolling onto his side so that he’s face to face with his lover, and can’t help the smile that blooms across his face as it finally sinks in that Otabek_ doesn’t want to leave him.

_“Okay,” Yuri says finally, agreeing to the conditions that Beka has laid out, in no uncertain terms._

_Otabek smiles back at him, and that night they fall asleep in each other’s arms, Yuri feeling at peace for the first time in weeks._ )

His way of thinking doesn’t change until he is a few months into his rehabilitation. It’s slow going, and surprisingly hard work, but he does eventually start to see results, and the first time he gets up the stairs to their apartment by himself, he calls Beka crying again, this time, tears of happiness. After that, it’s like a fog has lifted. He’s finally found his will to fight, and he’s not going to go down easily. It’s time to prove himself the soldier Otabek once saw him as all those years ago.

He’s much better at letting people in now, the people who stayed through all his tantrums and breakdowns, the people who he knows really care. Among them are Viktor and Yuuri of course, ever on his side and ever supportive, and he’s no longer afraid to admit how much they mean to him. Without them, he knows he never would’ve gotten this far, and with his grandfather two years gone, they’re the closest thing he has to an actual family.

( _“Yurio, we just want what’s best for you! You’re our only son, after all!” Viktor is all smiles, hearts practically exuding from his pores as he leans over Yuri on the couch, Katsudon letting out a half-hearted scolding of ‘Viktor!’ from the kitchen._

_It’s the first time since_ the accident _that Viktor’s so casually called him out as both their son and as ‘Yurio’ and he can feel something in his chest unclench. He hadn’t even realized he was tense until the knot was gone, and he finally feels…_ normal.

_“Whatever, old man. You and Katsudon are shitty excuses for parents anyway,” he says as Yuuri walks into the room, taking off his apron and hanging it from a hook on the closet door._

_He pretends not to see the way Viktor and Yuuri light up at his words, looking between him and each other with such stars in their eyes that he can feel himself begin to blush._

_“Yurio!” they both squeal, and tackle him into a hug, knocking all three of them off the couch in a tangled pile of excited ex-skaters that has Makkachin raising his head from his paws to let out a single bark of approval._ )

After he’s well enough to be able to get around on his own, he shows up to all of Otabek’s competitions. The other man had been dutifully going to practice and working like a fiend all this time, and Yuri’s made enough progress that by the time the Grand Prix qualifiers are announced, he no longer needs Yuuri to be ready for his every beck and call in case he needs to leave the house while Otabek’s gone.

When he first makes the decision to follow Otabek, there are two things he doesn’t quite anticipate that throw him for a bit of a loop. The first, though he was expecting something, he admits, is the look on Otabek’s face. The second, is the reaction he gets from the other skaters. For some reason it never crossed his mind that dropping off the face of the figure skating world after _the accident_ would ever affect anyone other than his immediate acquaintances.

( _Yuri hadn’t told his boyfriend the first time he chooses to take a flight by himself all the way to Skate America to watch Otabek qualify in person, and when he shows up to the morning practice in the scant few moments before the competition begins, when Otabek notices him standing in the entrance to the rink, his face falls into an amusing mixture of surprise and bewilderment. That’s not the part that has Yuri perplexed. That part comes next, when Otabek immediately takes off, heading towards Yuri as fast as he can while dodging the other skaters warming up on the ice._

_Yuri smiles, moving a little closer to the rink while Otabek clips on his skate guards, but it drops off his face when he notices the way Otabek is furrowing his brows. It’s not quite a frown, but it’s close enough that Yuri is confused, maybe a tad worried, as he watches his boyfriend walk over to him. Yuri opens his mouth, ready to ask him what’s wrong, but Beka beats him to it._

_“Yuri, what are you doing here?” his voice sounds harsh, maybe a little too loud, as a couple of people in the nearby area glance over to where they are standing._

_Yuri flinches, and bites at his lip before he answers._

_“What do you mean, what am I doing here? I’m here to watch you perform!” Yuri tries to smile again to ease the sudden tension, but the burning look Otabek is giving him kills it almost as soon as it is born._

_“I mean, what are you doing here, alone, on a whole different continent from Yuuri, who is supposed to be looking after you, where anything could happen to you that I wouldn’t know about?” he’s not shouting, though Yuri kind of wishes he was, because the pained hush of a whisper that Otabek is speaking in is somehow worse. He’s breathing heavily with emotion by the time he’s done, and when he stands there, still staring at Yuri, he realizes that Otabek is actually waiting for an explanation._

_Yuri gulps reflexively, looking down and away from Beka before he starts speaking. He looks so angry to see Yuri, a first for him if he’s honest, and it’s shaken him more than he can properly explain._

_“I got the okay from the doctor before I left,” he tries, voice small. “Yuuri took me. I just thought… I wanted to surprise you. I feel fine, a little tired maybe, but no pain. I’m sorry,” he ends pathetically, feeling a nearly overwhelming urge to cry creep up on him, something he hasn't felt since his triumph over the stairwell in their apartment building a few weeks previous._

_Otabek lets out a breath, and Yuri sees his skates move closer before he’s being pulled into a strong pair of arms. Yuri’s encircle Otabek’s waist out of habit, and Otabek relaxes a bit, resting his forehead on Yuri’s shoulder while one of his hands reaches up to tangle in his hair._

_“No, I’m sorry,” Otabek says, and Yuri sniffs feebly, allowing Otabek to say his part. “I didn’t mean to get angry, and I promise you, I am happy to see you,” he pulls away to smile at Yuri, the hand that was running through his hair moves down his face to cup his cheek, Beka’s thumb rubbing over his skin tenderly. “I was just worried. If something had happened to you before you got here, I never would’ve known that you weren’t safe at home, and not knowing would’ve killed me, Yuri. But I’m glad you’re here now,” he says, pulling their faces together so that their foreheads bump against each other gently._

_Yuri keeps his head resting against Beka’s for a moment before he pulls away, snorting._

_“I’m not stupid,” he tells Otabek wryly. “Do you really think Katsudon would let me come here without promising to text him the second my plane landed?” he holds up his phone, open to his text conversation with Yuuri, revealing all the worried, probing questions from Katsuki, and the dutiful, if somewhat snarky, responses from Yuri._

_Otabek huffs a laugh, and Yuri smiles tentatively at him. Then a voice from the direction of the rink says loudly, “Wait… is that Yuri Plisetsky?!”_

_Yuri and Otabek both turn back towards the rink to see Leo de la Iglesia leaning on the guard wall around the rink, squinting in their direction. People have started noticing them in earnest now, and they look at each other in understanding, making the simultaneous and silent decision to leave the rink before they attract any more attention._

_If there’s one crowd of people any where in the world that will still recognize Yuri despite his complete media disappearance, it’s the people that show up to watch a figure skating competition. Yuri can’t believe he didn’t think of it sooner, and tells as much to Otabek._

_Otabek laughs again, “You haven’t been gone that long, Yuri. Of course people still remember you.”_

_And for some reason, that comment makes him feel better in a way he can’t really describe._ )

Otabek wins, of course, another shiny gold medal to add to their combined collection.

Yuri is careful for the rest of the time they are in America to not get recognized again; he ties his hair up and keeps it tucked under a hat at all times, and wears sunglasses whenever he can get away with it. They fly back to Russia without another incident, and when Otabek flies out to Moscow for the Rostelecom Cup a couple weeks later, they go together this time.

Otabek gets silver at Rostelecom, losing to some up and coming skater from France Yuri’s never heard of before by seven tenths of a point. Yuri feels the righteous indignation bubble up on behalf of his significant other, and it feels almost like welcoming home an old friend. It’s been so long since he’s felt like himself that he lets the anger fester and stew. He hasn’t felt this angry for the sake of someone else since Beka lost bronze at the Grand Prix to JJ the year of Yuri’s senior debut.

Either way though, he still qualifies, and that’s enough for them. Back home in St Petersburg, Otabek trains harder than ever, determined to take home his third Grand Prix gold in what he tells Yuri is on his behalf. Yuri smiles and tells him, _duh, obviously_ , though the ache of not being able to skate, especially as the Grand Prix final is practically right on top of them, is weighing heavily on his heart. He _misses_ skating, goddamnit, and he’s finally, _finally_ not ashamed to admit it.

( _They meet JJ, Leo and Guang Hong at the hotel in London all the skaters are staying at; the others they got close to over the years either are already retired or didn’t manage to qualify this time around. It’s awkward, at first, standing there with Otabek to support him not as a fellow competitor, but as a fan from the stands. It’s awkward, but luckily JJ was never a person who liked to suffer in silence. He makes a comment about wiping the rink with Otabek's ass, and Yuri gladly snaps back, feeling something click into place at the relatively normal exchange. Leo and Guang Hong sit back and watch the show, though Yuri’s grown up a lot in the recent past, and he never even raises his voice, understanding for once that JJ made that comment for Yuri, as odd as it seems._

_When they part ways towards their separate rooms, the feeling is amicable, and Yuri decides, this is it; he’s ready. He tells Otabek as much, and though he doesn’t let it show on his face, Yuri knows he’s excited. They’d planned for this, of course, but Yuri had been having second thoughts on the plane, and Otabek had reassured him that they could always go with plan B. Meeting his old skating peers and talking with them as though nothing had happened to him all those months ago gives him the confidence he needs to try. He feels like all the other pieces of his life have finally fallen back into place, so now there’s just one left to take care of._

_After Yuri’s decision, Otabek skates almost like a man possessed. They had been planning for him to get gold all along, of course, but as Yuri watches him utterly dominate his Short Program and immediately shoot straight into first, it suddenly doesn’t feel like so much of a pipe dream. This is real, and it’s happening, and Yuri’s heart is suddenly beating out of his chest._

_Otabek finishes the first day in second, knocked down out of first by Guang Hong, of all people, and Yuri is slightly ashamed to admit he was a bit surprised by that. JJ is close behind Otabek in third, though not close enough that Yuri is too worried; Otabek has five whole points on JJ. Leo, unfortunately, is in fifth, having touched the ice twice during his turn. He’s seen people make amazing comebacks though, and at the Grand Prix final, it’s definitely better not to rule anyone out._

_Otabek kisses him passionately the minute they are alone, and Yuri allows himself to swept up in Otabek’s pace, letting his boyfriend to manipulate him as he pleases until they are tangled up in each other on the bed, Otabek’s fingers sliding up and under his shirt. He pinches Yuri’s nipple playfully, but Yuri just snorts and pushes his hand away. After that, they mostly just lay on the bed kissing lazily, since Otabek still has to compete in the morning and they can’t risk any pulled muscles before the last Grand Prix final of both his and Yuri’s careers._

_The next morning, when Otabek takes the ice, Yuri takes a deep breath and shouts, “DAVAI!” and for the first time since his accident, he doesn’t care about the stares he receives afterwards. Otabek looks at him with the tender smile that always makes his heart speed up, even so many years later, and gives him a thumbs up in return. Yuri grins, and knows it’s going to be fine._

_Otabek wins the gold, Guang Hong close behind with silver, and JJ managing to defend his bronze from Leo by half a point. Yuri knew this was the only outcome both he and Otabek would accept, but that doesn’t mean he’s not absolutely proud of his boyfriend. He screams louder than anyone when they announce the scores, and takes a small bear plush out of his pocket to through directly at Otabek’s head as he skates by. It hits, of course, and Yuri smirks, but Otabek doesn’t look put out; instead, he catches it before it hits the ground and tucks it under his arm all in one smooth motion that has Yuri raising his eyebrows a bit. There’s no way Otabek could’ve known that came from him right? But when he asks about it when they meet up again, Otabek just snorts and asks him rhetorically, “Is there really anyone else that would throw a congratulatory gift directly into my face?”_

_Yuri is left momentarily speechless because wow, Otabek really does know him well, doesn’t he?_

_Then he isn’t thinking much of anything at all because it’s time for Otabek’s gala skate, and suddenly Yuri is nervous, playing with his fingers restlessly as he follows Otabek out of the changing room. When they’re standing on the edge of the ice, waiting for them to announce Otabek’s turn, his boyfriend turns to him, catches his twittering hands in his own and looking him straight in the eye._

_“It’s going to be fine, Yuri,” he says softly. “We worked out every detail together, remember? Everything is going to be fine.”_

_Yuri doesn’t say, “I also thought I had everything worked out before my skate slipped on the ice and I ruined my skating career in it’s prime.”_

_Instead, he nods, and lets Otabek’s words wash over him, trying to find that center of calm that only ever existed in him when he was skating. It has to still be in there somewhere, even when he’s not on the ice, and he searches for it now. He doesn’t find it, but the act calms him down enough that he takes a deep breath, and lets the tension flow out of him. He opens his eyes, not even noticing when he closed them, and nods to Beka again, this time, determination flowing out of him. Otabek relaxes too, by a fraction, but then he’s gone, skating out onto the ice as his name is called._

_Otabek skates beautifully, a slow-paced waltz that doesn’t challenge him much considering the difficulty of the Free Skate that won him his medal, but this song isn’t for Otabek. The song reaches what Yuri knows to be the two and a half minute mark, and he approaches the ice, leaning heavily on the rink wall so he doesn’t put too much pressure on his knee as he takes off his skate guards._

_He pushes off onto the ice, a second spotlight following him until he joins up with Otabek, who takes his hand as soon as it’s within reach. The difficulty drops even further now that Yuri’s on the ice, but he can’t bring himself to care. He doesn’t do a single jump, leaving all the technical stuff to Otabek whenever they separate, and gets lost in the simplest of choreographies, made specifically for this moment by Viktor._

_The song ends and they pose together, Yuri’s back pressed to Otabek’s front, their hands finding each other in the air as Yuri turns his head so he can look into Otabek’s eyes. Despite the low difficulty of the piece, they get a standing ovation, and Yuri blinks his tears away as Otabek helps him off the ice. He’s not in pain, not yet at least, but his knee feels weak and he appreciates the help._

_When they had first brought up Yuri getting on the ice during Otabek’s gala skate, they had been met with three resounding noes from Yuuri, Viktor, and Yuri’s doctor. After weeks of pleading with all three, Yuuri caved first, and with him on their side, Viktor’s protests were practically moot. Yuri’s doctor was the final hold out, but even she finally agreed, after imposing many limitations on what he was and wasn’t allowed to do, how long he could be on the ice, even how long he could wear his skates for. But it was worth it. Every strict guideline, every disapproving look from Viktor, every worried glance from Katsudon, they were all worth it for this one moment, what was essentially Yuri’s last farewell to the ice._

_Their fellow skaters are waiting for them when they got off the ice, and where Guang Hong and Leo both congratulate him like normal people, JJ give his back a congratulatory smack that almost knocks him off his feet. He gives him a snide look, but doesn’t say anything other than a 'thank you' for the remarks, and then Otabek’s pulling him away before JJ can attempt to bait him more. They need to get Yuri out of his skates, as per his doctor’s request, or else neither of them will ever hear the end of it._

_When they make an obligatory appearance at the banquet that night, Yuri has to use his cane, much to his eternal annoyance. He hates the thing, even though Otabek got it customized just for him: painted a bright orange with black tiger stripes. His knee is worse for wear after the skate though, and Otabek had refused to let him out of their hotel room without it. And just as he suspects, everyone looks up when they enter the room, but when they see the cane in Yuri’s hand, the reporters zero in on it like vultures in the desert._

_Luckily for them, that is, himself and Otabek, Yuri has never been a shrinking violet; that’s the other Yuuri’s job. No, this Yuri has no trouble scowling dourly at each and every reporter that so much as looks at him, and if they still dare to open their mouths in his direction after that, he pointedly makes a comment about how Otabek’s the one with the shiny new medal and how Yuri wasn’t even a contestant._

_When they finally make it back to their hotel room so late that night that it was already early morning, Yuri collapses on their bed, dropping his cane like it’s suddenly made of hot coals, and begins massaging his knee. He’s gonna be such a mess in the morning, he’s probably gonna have to lug his stupid cane around for the next week, he thinks with vitriol. But it doesn’t matter. If that’s the price he has to pay, it’s more than worth it for those last few moments with the ice and Otabek, his two great loves together._

_Otabek picks up his cane and moves it out of the center of the room, sitting it up against the wall in the corner and completely out of the way before he too walks to the bed, sitting next to Yuri’s inflicted knee. He lightly swats Yuri’s hands out of the way and takes over the massage, Otabek’s better angle and stronger hands allowing him to penetrate that much deeper into the sore muscles, and Yuri groans in appreciation. They sit in silence for a minute before Otabek speaks._

_“Yuri,” he starts, then stops, and though his speech falters, his hands never do. Yuri looks up at him patience, something he really doesn’t have a lot of, but he would do anything for this man and isn’t afraid to admit it. He seems to find his voice again after a few minutes, because he continues._

_“I just wanted to say thank you. You skated for me today, because I brought up the idea of doing a pair skate for my last gala. You put yourself through all this,” and here he lifts a hand to gesture around at the cane against the wall, the knee that he’s attempting to massage the pain out of, “because of a simple whim of mine, so… thank you, Yura,” he finishes, looking earnestly into Yuri’s eyes, and Yuri smiles back at him, leaning back easily into the pillows behind him._

_“I almost hate to say it after that most heartfelt thank you,” Yuri responds. “But I didn’t do it all for you. In fact, it was about forty percent for you and sixty percent for me. Yeah, you came up with the idea, Beka, but just like this was your last ever gala skate, it was my last ever time on the ice, and because it was here, with you, in this context, that it was absolutely perfect. So don’t worry, I’m still my usual selfish self,” he grins at Otabek when he’s done, and Otabek pinches his knee for his cheek, which dissolves the atmosphere as a pinching fight breaks out between them. Yuri definitely wins, because he manages to grab and pull hard on one of Beka’s nipples, but he retaliates by sticking his fingers into Yuri’s side and wiggling them. Yuri yelps and practically teleports across the room, looking at Otabek in scandal from the corner where he lands._

_“Beka! You know how I feel about tickling!” he calls childishly, but Otabek just raises his eyebrows as his lifts his hand to rub at his chest, completely unsympathetic._

_“My torso would’ve wound up asymmetrical if you kept pulling like that. I had to do something,” he defends himself blandly, and Yuri can’t help the snort of laughter that bubbles up in his throat._

_Yuri’s body chooses that moment to remind them both that he exerted himself fairly intensely today by forcing a yawn out of his mouth, and Otabek smiles softly._

_“Let’s get ready for bed,” he says, and offers Yuri his hand. And just like the first time, way back when in Barcelona, it never even occurs to Yuri to refuse._ )

 

~~~

 

Yuri is twenty-two when his life metaphorically ends.

But he is twenty-three when his life begins again, thanks to all the people in his life that love him and would do anything to see him happy, and even though he definitely wouldn’t call his accident a good thing that's happened to him, he’s not as upset about it any more as he was. That's just the way life is, sometimes, and even though he lost the ice, he gained so much more in its place that most days, he barely even remembers to miss it.

He has Otabek, and he has Viktor and Yuuri, and he has his friends, even if some of them don’t act like it, and even though he’ll never skate at anything more than a snail’s pace ever again, the fact that he _can_ is amazing in and of itself.

So yes, Yuri Plisetsky likes to tell people he died when he was twenty-two. But he also tells them that he was reborn not much later to a life so full, he doesn’t even recall what there was to be bitter about in the first place. And really, there’s nothing unlucky about that.

 

**Author's Note:**

> If you've made it this far, thank you for reading all the way to the end!  
> If you want to let me know what you thought, please feel free to leave a kudo or a comment! :D


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